The Canadian Points-Transfer Map
There is a quiet trap in Canadian points that catches almost everyone at least once. You read that some program has “transfer partners,” you assume yours does too, and you plan a trip around points that were never going to turn into airline miles. So let us clear it up. In Canada, the currencies that genuinely transfer into airline and hotel loyalty programs are essentially two: American Express Membership Rewards and RBC Avion Rewards. The big-bank programs you have probably heard of, TD Rewards, Scene+, CIBC Aventura, and BMO Rewards, are a different animal, and this guide draws the whole map so you know which points do what.
In Canada, the points that actually transfer to airline and hotel loyalty programs are essentially Amex Membership Rewards and RBC Avion Rewards (on Avion Elite cards). Amex MR moves to Air Canada Aeroplan and British Airways Avios at 1 to 1, among others. RBC Avion moves to British Airways Avios at a base 1 to 1 and to American Airlines AAdvantage at 10 points for 7 miles, plus a couple more. TD Rewards, Scene+, CIBC Aventura and BMO Rewards are mostly fixed-value or travel-portal programs, so “transfer” means something different: you spend the points against a booking, you do not convert them into airline miles. Transfers are one-way, so find the award seat first. As of July 2026; transfer partners and ratios change, so confirm on the program's own site before you transfer, and transfers are usually one-way and irreversible.
The word “transfer” gets used loosely in Canadian points, and the looseness is exactly what trips people up. In the classic, valuable sense, a transfer means moving your bank or card points into a separate airline or hotel loyalty program, where they become that program's own miles or points and get booked under that program's award rules. That is how you unlock a business-class seat that would cost a fortune in cash. Only a couple of Canadian currencies do this.
In the looser sense, plenty of programs let you “use points toward travel,” which usually means redeeming them at a fixed cents-per-point value against a flight or hotel you book through the program's portal, or against a charge on your statement. That is genuinely useful and often the right call for most people, but it is not the same thing, and it does not give you access to the sweet spots that make points people so excited. Keeping these two ideas separate is the single most important habit in Canadian points.
Ask one question of any program: can I move these points into a separate airline or hotel program and book under that program's award chart? If yes, you hold a transferable currency (Amex MR or RBC Avion in Canada). If the only option is to spend the points against a travel booking at a set value, you hold a fixed-value or portal currency. Both are fine. They are just not interchangeable.
Here is the whole Canadian landscape in one table. The verified ratios are the ones each program publishes on its own site as of July 2026; where a ratio moves around or I could not cleanly confirm the current number, it says so rather than guessing.
It is easy to assume every bank program works like the big American transferable currencies. In Canada it does not shake out that way. Amex Membership Rewards and RBC Avion are the two that maintain airline and hotel transfer partnerships. Everyone else built a fixed-value or portal model instead, which is simpler to use and harder to mess up, but does not reach the transfer sweet spots.
American Express Membership Rewards is the most flexible transferable currency a Canadian can hold. You earn it on cards like the Amex Cobalt, the Gold Rewards Card, and the Platinum Card, and from a full-MR card you can move points into a range of airline and hotel loyalty partners. The two that matter most for Canadians, and the two I have verified at 1 to 1 as of July 2026, are Air Canada Aeroplan and British Airways Avios.
Aeroplan at 1 to 1 is the workhorse. It is instant most of the time, it opens up Star Alliance awards, and Air Canada does not pass along the big fuel surcharges that plague some programs. British Airways Avios, also 1 to 1, is your route into distance-based short-haul awards and surcharge-light partners like Qatar. Amex maintains other partners too, and the exact list shifts over time as programs are added or dropped, so the reliable move is to open the transfer page in your own Amex account and read the current partners and ratios there before you plan.
Amex Canada adjusts its Membership Rewards partner roster from time to time (partners get added and dropped, and one example is that Etihad Guest stopped being a Canadian MR transfer partner in 2026). Aeroplan and British Airways Avios at 1 to 1 are the anchors verified here as of July 2026. For any other partner or ratio, confirm it live on the Amex Membership Rewards transfer page in your account, because a stale figure is worse than no figure when the transfer is irreversible.
RBC Avion Rewards is the other genuinely transferable Canadian currency, with one big asterisk: only Avion Elite points can transfer to airline partners. Those are the points earned on the premium Avion-branded credit cards, such as the RBC Avion Visa Infinite and Visa Infinite Privilege. Points earned on no-fee or lower-tier RBC cards like the ION and ION+ cannot make the airline jump, so check which points you actually hold before you build a plan.
From Avion Elite, the partners I have verified as of July 2026 are British Airways Avios at a base 1 to 1 (with a 10,000-point minimum) and American Airlines AAdvantage at a base 10 Avion points for 7 miles, which is a 1 to 0.7 ratio (with a 5,000-point minimum). AAdvantage losing 30 percent of your points count is the cost of reaching awards you cannot otherwise touch from Canada, and it only pays off when the award on the far side is priced well. RBC also lists Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and WestJet as conversion partners. The Asia Miles and WestJet ratios move around and I would not want to quote a stale number, so confirm those live in Avion Rewards before you count on them.
RBC runs periodic transfer bonuses that meaningfully improve a partner ratio for a limited window. Recent examples include bonuses to British Airways Avios and to American Airlines AAdvantage. A bonus turns a rough ratio like Avion to AAdvantage into something closer to fair, so if your trip is flexible it is worth holding your points until one appears. Just never wait past an award seat you have already found.
None of these four are airline-transfer currencies, and it would be misleading to invent airline “transfer partners” for them, so here is an honest description of what each one actually does. The common thread is that you spend the points inside the program at a set value, rather than converting them into a separate loyalty currency you book with elsewhere.
- TD Rewards. A travel-portal and fixed-value program. You mainly redeem points against travel you book through TD, at a set redemption value, along with some other redemption options. There is no conversion of TD Rewards into Aeroplan, Avios, or any airline loyalty balance.
- Scotiabank Scene+. A broad fixed-value program shared with Cineplex and Empire. Points redeem at a set value toward travel booked through Scene+, plus dining, entertainment, groceries at participating stores, and statement credits. Flexible and easy, but not an airline currency you transfer.
- CIBC Aventura. The closest to feeling like a travel program, because it has its own award chart. You book flights through the CIBC Rewards Centre, either on Aventura's fixed points-plus-taxes chart or by redeeming against paid travel at a set value. Crucially, you book within CIBC's own program. You do not move Aventura points into an airline's account and book under that airline's rules.
- BMO Rewards. A travel-portal and fixed-value program. Points redeem at a set value against travel you book through BMO, and toward other options like statement credits. Again, no airline transfer.
None of this makes them bad. For a lot of people, a fixed-value program that quietly knocks a set number of dollars off any flight is exactly the right, low-stress choice, and it sidesteps award-seat hunting entirely. The point is simply to hold them for what they are. Treat their points as dollars off travel, plan around that value, and you will never be caught expecting an airline transfer that was never on the menu.
Whichever transferable currency you hold, the same handful of rules keep you out of trouble. They are boring, and they are also the difference between a great redemption and a pile of stranded points.
- Transfers are one-way and irreversible. Once MR or Avion points become Aeroplan, Avios, AAdvantage, or Asia Miles, they cannot come back. Only ever transfer what you have a concrete plan to use.
- Find the award seat first. Confirm the actual award flight is bookable on your dates, in the program you plan to book from, before you move a single point. Points are easy to transfer and impossible to untransfer.
- Ratios and partners change. Programs add and drop partners and adjust ratios without much warning. Everything here is as of July 2026, so confirm the live number on the program's own site before you commit.
- Watch for transfer bonuses. Both Amex and RBC run limited-time bonuses that add roughly 15 to 35 percent to a partner. If your travel is flexible, waiting for one stretches your points. If you have already found the seat, book it and do not gamble on a promo.
- Mind minimums and increments. Each partner has a minimum transfer and moves in set blocks. Avion to Avios starts at 10,000 and Avion to AAdvantage at 5,000, for example. Make sure your balance clears the floor before you plan the redemption.
The Canadian transfer map is smaller than it looks. Two currencies, Amex Membership Rewards and RBC Avion Rewards, genuinely move into airline and hotel loyalty programs, and those are the ones that reach the sweet spots. Amex MR anchors on Aeroplan and Avios at 1 to 1. Avion Elite reaches Avios at 1 to 1 and AAdvantage at 1 to 0.7, with a couple more partners to confirm live. TD Rewards, Scene+, CIBC Aventura, and BMO Rewards are fixed-value or portal programs that you spend against travel, not airline currencies you transfer. Know which bucket your points sit in, find the seat before you move anything, and confirm every ratio on the source before you pull the trigger. Do that and Canadian points reward you instead of surprising you.
Which Canadian credit card points transfer to airlines?
In Canada, the two currencies that genuinely transfer into airline and hotel loyalty programs are American Express Membership Rewards and RBC Avion Rewards (on Avion Elite cards). Amex MR moves to partners like Air Canada Aeroplan and British Airways Avios, generally at 1 to 1. RBC Avion moves to British Airways Avios at 1 to 1 and American Airlines AAdvantage at 10 points for 7 miles, among a short list. The other big-bank programs are mostly fixed-value or travel-portal programs, not airline-transfer currencies.
Can I transfer TD Rewards, Scene+, CIBC Aventura or BMO Rewards to airlines?
Not in the way people mean by transfer. TD Rewards, Scotiabank Scene+, CIBC Aventura, and BMO Rewards are primarily fixed-value or travel-portal programs. You redeem the points against a travel booking, or through the program's own award chart in the case of Aventura, rather than converting them into a stack of Aeroplan or Avios you then book with. They are useful, they just work differently, so treat their points as a set number of dollars off travel, not as a transferable airline currency.
What is the Amex Membership Rewards to Aeroplan ratio in Canada?
Amex Membership Rewards transfers to Air Canada Aeroplan at 1 to 1, so 30,000 MR points become 30,000 Aeroplan points, usually within minutes. British Airways Avios is also 1 to 1. A minimum of 1,000 points applies and transfers move in 100-point increments. Ratios and partners change, so confirm the live figure in your Amex account before you move anything. As of July 2026.
What is the RBC Avion to British Airways and American Airlines ratio?
On Avion Elite cards, RBC Avion transfers to British Airways Avios at a base 1 to 1 with a 10,000-point minimum, and to American Airlines AAdvantage at a base 10 Avion points for 7 miles (a 1 to 0.7 ratio) with a 5,000-point minimum. RBC also lists Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and WestJet as conversion partners; confirm those live ratios in Avion Rewards. RBC runs periodic transfer bonuses that improve the math. As of July 2026.
Are points transfers reversible?
No. Every transfer covered here is one-way and irreversible. Once your Membership Rewards or Avion points become Aeroplan, Avios, AAdvantage, or Asia Miles, you cannot convert them back. That is why the golden rule is to find and confirm the award seat first, then transfer only the points that booking needs.
Should I wait for a transfer bonus?
If your trip is flexible, yes. Both Amex and RBC periodically run limited-time transfer bonuses that add roughly 15 to 35 percent to a given partner, which meaningfully softens a ratio like Avion to AAdvantage. But a bonus only helps if you were going to use the points and the award seat is still there. Never transfer against a seat you have not confirmed just to catch a promo.
Once you know which points transfer where, the next step is the specific redemption. These walk through the exact mechanics and the sweet spots on each currency.